Such an intake module typically has a housing, which is equipped with an inlet opening for fresh air and with a flange section for fastening or connecting, respectively, the housing to the internal combustion engine. Provision is made in the flange section for a plurality of outlet openings for the fresh air. A distribution chamber, from which the fresh air supplied to the internal combustion engine via the inlet opening during operation, is distributed to the outlet openings, is typically embodied in the housing. Provision is thereby made for at least one such outlet opening for each combustion chamber. Such an intake module can be used in the case of a charged internal combustion engine as well as in the case of a non-charged internal combustion engine.
It is further common to equip such intake modules with a control device for controlling a cross section of at least one of the outlet openings, through which flow can pass. Typically, at least one such controllable outlet opening is thereby assigned to each combustion chamber. Provision can further be made for each combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine to be assigned two outlet openings, the one of which is in each case controlled, which can thus be changed with respect to its cross section, through which flow can pass, while the respective other outlet opening is not controlled, is thus permanently completely open. The fresh air supply can be optimized with the help of such a control device as a function of the current operating state of the internal combustion engine. Such a control device can be equipped with a control shaft, which has at least one control valve arranged in a rotationally-fixed manner on the control shaft for the respective outlet opening. The respective outlet opening can thus be controlled with respect to its cross section, through which flow can pass, with the help of the respective control valve. The respective outlet opening can in particular be opened or closed with the help of the corresponding control valve. On principle, any intermediate positions are likewise possible. Depending on the function of the control valve, the latter can also be identified as tumble valve or throttle valve.
Due to the fact that such an intake module is to be produced in large quantities and as cost-efficiently as possible, additional problems result when mounting the control shaft on the housing. The housing, which is typically injection molded of plastic, can warp as a result of the production process, which may impair a mounting of the control shaft with as little friction as possible. However, this creates the risk of an impairment of the functional reliability of the control shaft. The effort for realizing a functionally reliable mounting of the control shaft on the housing is thus comparatively high. Additional problems may result, e.g. in response to the subsequent installation of the control shaft into the housing, when the installation is to take place for example on a connection side of the flange section, which is provided for connecting the housing to the internal combustion engine. Warping of the housing results in relatively large production tolerances, which make a functionally reliable assembly of the control shaft more difficult.
Such problems do not only appear in the case of intake modules comprising controllable outlet openings, but in the case of all intake modules, in or on the housing of which controllable openings are provided. The invention at hand is thus not limited to intake modules comprising controllable outlet openings, but relates to all intake modules, which have or include controllable openings. This thus also relates to intake modules, which have bypass openings in their interior, which can be opened and closed for switching intake pipe lengths. Such a control device for controlling the cross sections of these bypass openings, through which flow can pass, can also be used for this purpose.
An intake module, which is equipped with a housing, which has an inlet opening for fresh air and a flange section comprising a plurality of outlet openings for fresh air is known from DE 44 99 626 T1. The known intake module has switchable intake pipe lengths, the effective length of which is switched by opening and closing bypass openings. For this purpose, the intake module is furthermore equipped with a control device for controlling a cross section of these bypass openings, through which flow can pass. The control device has a control shaft and a plurality of control valves, which are arranged in a rotationally-fixed manner on the control shaft, for the bypass openings. The control shaft is thereby mounted on the housing by means of at least one bearing bracket such that it can rotate about a rotational axis. The housing has at least one bearing receiving portion for receiving the respective bearing bracket, which has an insertion opening. The respective bearing bracket is thereby inserted in an insertion direction, which is oriented perpendicular to the rotational axis through the respective insertion opening into the respective bearing receiving portion. On its outside, the respective bearing bracket has two outer surfaces, which face away from one another with respect to a transverse direction, which runs perpendicular to the rotational axis and perpendicular to the insertion direction.
In the case of the known intake module, the outer surfaces of the respective bearing bracket in each case have a longitudinal groove, which runs parallel to the insertion direction. Provision is furthermore made on a front end of the bearing bracket, which leads in the insertion direction, for a projecting curved web, which extends in the circumferential direction. Complementary to the longitudinal grooves and to the curved web, provision is made on corresponding boundary walls of the corresponding bearing bracket for two straight webs, which project inwards, and for a curved groove, which extends in the circumferential direction. When the bearing bracket is inserted into the bearing receiving portion, the straight webs engage with the longitudinal grooves on the one hand and the curved web engages with the curved groove on the other hand, in each case in the manner of a nut-groove guide, in order to attain a positioning of the bearing bracket in the bearing receiving portion parallel to the rotational axis of the shaft. The positioning of the bearing bracket at right angles to the rotational axis takes place via the flat contact between the outer surfaces of the bearing bracket and corresponding inner surfaces of the bearing receiving portion, which need to be produced accurately for this purpose.
A generic intake module comprising the features of the preamble of claim 1 is known from JP 2014-101800 A. On each of the two outer surfaces, two positioning blocks, which are spaced apart from one another, are embodied therein. All positioning blocks are further arranged at and end of the bearing bracket, which is spaced apart from the control shaft.
A further intake module of this type is known from JP H07-158458 A, in the case of which only one positioning block is in each case provided on each of the two outer surfaces. The bearing bracket is further divided, so that it has two bearing parts, which are mounted against one another via an integral hinge such that they can move.
Further intake modules comprising bearing brackets are known from JP 2010-168995 A, from JP 2014-1719 A and from DE 10 2011 087 234 A1.